1971-1978 Oldsmobile Toronado

1973 Oldsmobile Toronado

Nineteen seventy-three was the year federal bumper protection standards went into effect. To meet those standards, the 1973 Oldsmobile Toro­nado got a new hydraulic front-bumper system. It was comprised of a chrome bumper bar attached to hydraulic rams that could move rearward to absorb impact and provide better protection in impacts up to five mph.

The absence of a transmission tunnel in the front-wheel-drive Oldsmobile
Toronado added leg room for passengers.

Along with the new bumpers came a host of styling revisions. Out back, the decklid was restyled because the taillights were changed to vertical lenses set into the trailing edge of the quarter panels. A full-width filler panel incorporating reflec­tors and back-up lamps ran between the decklid and the bumper. To balance the taillight design, front park and signal lamps came in a new vertical style in the ends of the front fenders. Grilles were also reworked to fit in the hydraulic bumper.

Steel-belted radial tires were now available at extra cost -- as were the bright bodyside moldings that previously had been standard. The vinyl top no longer had the halo effect, instead covering the whole roof surface.

In a record-setting year for the industry as a whole, Oldsmobile wholesaled more than 900,000 cars for 1973. Of them, 55,921 were Toronados, the all-time high for the big coupe. Detroit wouldn't be able to celebrate for very long, however.

American Motors was determined to be the first U.S. manufacturer to bring the subcompact car to the market -- and it did with the 1970 AMC Gremlin. See pictures and learn more about the 1970-1978 AMC Gremlin.

The 1970-1971 Plymouth Barracuda Convertibles were quite rare making them increasingly valuable today. Find out why these ponycars didn't make it and were only produced for two years. See photos and specifications for them here.